5.  The first applicant was born in 1988. Both applicants live in Skopje.
6.  On 10 June 2009 at about 1:30 a.m. the first applicant, driving a car belonging to the second applicant, was coming back home from a discotheque. In the centre of Skopje, two traffic police officers (J.B. and J.A.), who were in uniform and authorised by law (Order no. 1493 of 9-10 June 2009) to conduct traffic stops, ordered, using a flashlight, the first applicant to stop the car for a routine inspection. Instead of stopping, the first applicant made a U-turn and accelerated away. J.B. and J.A. followed him in a police car with active sirens and visual warnings. Four police cars and several cars from the “Alfa” special mobile police unit joined the pursuit. There were fifteen police officers involved in the chase.
7.  A police car with flashing lights was used to block the street in order to stop the first applicant. The latter, however, drove around the roadblock. He continued driving at high speed. This was confirmed by written statements given by several police officers (see paragraphs 16, 18 and 19 below), as well as in a letter of 21 November 2009 that the Ministry of the Interior sent to the Helsinki Committee in reply to a request for information.
8.  A second roadblock was established. The first applicant attempted to go around it by mounting the pavement on the left side of the street, where, as the Government maintained, Z.G., a police officer from the “Alfa” unit, was standing. M.D., also a member of the “Alfa” unit, who was standing on the opposite side of the street next to the roadblock, fired two shots from an automatic rifle in the direction of the car’s right front tyre (see paragraph 16 below). Z.G., whom the car was allegedly approaching, jumped aside in order to avoid being hit by the car. He lost his balance and, while falling, fired two shots from a pistol towards the car’s back right tyre (see paragraph 17 below). As specified in the letter of 21 November 2009 (see paragraph 7 above), the bullets fired by Z.G. hit the car, with one bullet hitting the rear of the car between the rear door and the roof. As a result, the rear window shattered. The second bullet passed through the rear door of the car and the rear seat and ended up hitting the front passenger seat.
9.  The first applicant’s car stopped 100 m beyond the roadblock. According to the letter of 21 November 2009, police officers approached the first applicant’s car. One of them had a gun pointed at him.
10.  I.A., a police officer from the “Alfa” unit, opened the door of the car. Since the first applicant did not get out, he twisted his arm behind his back, pulled him out of the car and made him lie down on the street. M.B., a police officer from the “Alfa” unit, arrived and handcuffed the first applicant. The Government provided copies of reports that I.A. and M.B. had submitted on 10 June 2009 to the Ministry of the Interior regarding the use of means of force (see paragraph 20 below). According to the Government, there were over twenty police officers present at the scene observing the first applicant’s arrest.
11.  In their application, the applicants submitted that at 2:15 a.m. on 10 June 2009 the first applicant, driving the second applicant’s car, had passed by a traffic police patrol and he had started driving backwards in order to reach a fast-food restaurant. Police officers from the “Alfa” mobile unit had started chasing him in a police car through the streets of Skopje. A roadblock with an unmarked car had been established in order to stop him. After he had driven around the roadblock, police officers had started firing at the car with a pistol and an automatic rifle in burst mode (рафално) “without any reason-only because maybe he had avoided a routine patrol control and had not stopped at the roadblock arranged with unmarked cars (необележани возила на кои немало никакви ознаки дека се полициски) established by the Alfa unit”. As a result, the car had been damaged (see paragraph 8 above).
12.  After the police had fired shots, the first applicant had stopped the car. He had been dragged out of the car by several police officers, who had started hitting him all over his body. He had been beaten with truncheons, and punched and kicked in the face, head, stomach and back. He had been handcuffed. The beating had continued after he was handcuffed.
13.  After his arrest, the first applicant was taken to a hospital in order for blood and urine tests to be carried out. He was then taken to a police station. He was released at 1 p.m. Following his release, he went to Skopje Health Centre, where a medical certificate was issued that day at 2:26 p.m., which indicated the following injuries: contusions on the back and left forearm, as well as scrapings on the back and forehead (contusio corporis et antebrachii L; dex. et regio dorsi cum; excoriationes regio dorsi et frontis). The certificate further provided an account of events as described by the first applicant, namely that he had sustained the injuries during an assault by police officers that had occurred at about 3 a.m. that day.
14.  On 10 June 2009 Z.G. was admitted to the Skopje Health Centre, where he was diagnosed as suffering from a head injury and bruising to the torso. As stated in a certificate issued on that date at 4:36 a.m., he had been injured from falling onto gravel. He complained that he had a headache, chest pain and nausea. The same symptoms were confirmed in another medical certificate of that date.
15.  The Government submitted copies of written statements given by over twenty police officers who had taken part in or otherwise witnessed the police chase and arrest of the first applicant on 10 June 2009. All statements, except the statement of M.Du. (see paragraph 18 below), were given on 10 and 11 June 2009. They all confirmed the events described above (see paragraphs 6-10 above).
16.  The relevant parts of M.D.’s statement read as follows:
“After we had received information that the car was driving at high speed ... Alfa-56 announced that [the car] had not stopped upon their signal and [was driving towards] two colleagues in order to escape ... we set a ... car with the warning lights on (со означени светлосни сигнали) to block the street and we left the car wearing police vests in order to stop the car and apprehend [the driver].
At one point we saw that the car was approaching at high speed. We signalled with lights that the car should stop. Then I realised that the car wouldn’t stop and that it was being driven towards my colleague Z. (Z.G.) with the intention of hitting him and escaping again. In order to prevent [the driver] from absconding, I fired with an automatic rifle... [I fired] two shots towards the right front wheel. At that point I saw that my colleague Z. had jumped aside and escaped being hit by the car. While falling, he fired two shots from his service gun ...
After the pursuit had ended and [the first applicant] was under control, colleague Z. complained that he had a severe headache and back pain and he started to vomit. I then drove him with the official car to City Hospital ...”
17.  The relevant parts of Z.G.’s statement read as follows:
“I saw the car driving in my direction at high speed and without stopping upon [our] signalling [with] lights [to do so]; I noticed that [the driver] was driving towards the pavement where I was standing with the aim of hitting me in order to escape; I tried to avoid being hit, but I slipped; while falling I fired two shots from my service gun ... aiming at the back right wheel ...”
18.  On 2 July 2009 M.Du., a police officer, stated:
“... Alfa 56 announced that the car had not stopped upon their signal and with the intention of hitting two colleagues, who had tried to stop [the car], [the driver] had [driven on and] escaped. After the announcement, I, as the driver of a car ... with active visual warning lights and sirens (со вклучени светлосни и звучни сигнали) ... formed an appropriate roadblock... We saw the car driving towards us with excessive speed; it was not braking, but it mounted the pavement in order to avoid our roadblock; it was being driven in the direction of our colleague Z.G. with the aim of hitting him and making it possible [for the driver] to escape. The team leader M.D., being aware that the life of our colleague was at risk, fired two shots aimed at the tyres. The car continued driving at high speed (approximately 130-140km/h) towards my colleague Z., who ... stepped aside ... and while falling, he fired two shots towards the rear tyre ...”
19.  I.A., I.J. and T.D., police officers, confirmed that the first applicant had not stopped the car and had gone around the first roadblock, putting the lives of police officers at risk. In this connection T.D. stated:
“... We placed our car ... in the middle of the street with active visual warning lights to form a roadblock in order to stop the car, which was driving towards us at high speed. It was followed by five cars with active warning lights. When the car arrived in front of us, the driver did not reduce his speed, but he made a sharp left turn, endangering our safety; he passed next to us ...”
20.  The relevant parts of the reports that I.A. and M.B. submitted to the Ministry of the Interior regarding the use of means of force read as follows:
“... Because [the first applicant] passively resisted [arrest] by disregarding our orders to get out of the car, I [I.A.] opened the door of the car and twisted his left arm; he was taken out of the car and [made to] lie down on the ground. [The first applicant] continued to resist until colleague M.B. arrived and handcuffed him.
“...[The first applicant] resisted by disregarding [our] orders; handcuffs were used because colleague I.A. was not able to put handcuffs [on him] by himself.”
21.  Both I.A. and M.B. stated that the first applicant had no visible injuries.
22.  Police officers M.M., A.A. and D.S. stated that the first applicant’s car was stopped at about 2:20 a.m.
23.  On 15 June 2009 the first applicant brought the incident of 10 June 2009 to the attention of the Ombudsman. In his letter of complaint, he submitted that:
“... before I reached the fast-food restaurant, I noticed that a police car was driving behind me. Then, I accelerated because I was afraid to be stopped since I had drunk a bit and I was afraid that my driving license might be seized... While I was driving, the police established several roadblocks that I successfully bypassed, but I was stopped in the end. Before I was stopped, I don’t know why, the police fired from an automatic gun in burst mode (од кое се слушна рафално пукање)”.
24.  He complained that the police had overstepped their powers by having used firearms and beaten him up. As regards the alleged police brutality, he submitted that:
“After I had gotten out of the car, I was brutally assaulted by seven or eight officers, who beat me severely despite the fact that I did not resist ... [the] battering lasted 4-5 minutes and after I had been handcuffed, they continued to beat me ...”
25.  He further stated:
“There is no merit in their [police officers] allegation that I endangered the life of a police officer and that owing to that other [officers] used firearms. I consider it to be a mere farce used to justify the firing [of shots] and beating [me up].” 3.  Report on the assessment of whether the use of physical force by police officers M.D., I.A., M.B. and Z.G.was justified (Извештај за оценка на оправданоста за употреба на физичка сила)
26.  On 3 July 2009 a superior police officer within the “Alfa” mobile police unit drew up a report regarding the use of force during the incident of 10 June 2009. According to the report, the police chase commenced after the driver (the first applicant) had refused to stop the car upon a signal by traffic police officers. Sirens and visual warnings by police cars and officers wearing police vests had been used in an attempt to stop the car. The first applicant, instead, had driven at high speed in the direction of police officers “with the aim of hurting them and escaping”. In order “to disable the car [and stop the first applicant from] absconding”, M.D. had fired two shots aimed at the right front tyre and Z.G.had fired two shots in direction of the back right tyre. After the first applicant had refused to get out of the car, which had stopped 100 m beyond the roadblock, I.A. and M.B. had used force to overcome his resistance, namely they had twisted his arm and handcuffed him. The report concluded that:
“On the basis of the official notes and the interview conducted (no further details were specified) as to certain relevant facts and having regard to the fact that [the first applicant] endangered the lives of police officers by attempting to hit them in order to escape, I consider the physical force used, (namely) the twisting of (his) arm and handcuffs ... as well as the shots fired towards the car ... [to have been] justified in accordance with section 27 of the Decree regarding the use of means of force and firearms (see paragraph 44 below)”.
27.  On 14 July 2009 the Ministry of the Interior drew up an expert report, according to which two bullets had been fired from Z.G.’s pistol and two bullets from M.D.’s automatic rifle. The bullet recovered from the back of the front passenger seat in the car driven by the first applicant had been fired from Z.G.’s pistol. Blood and urine alcohol tests had confirmed the presence of blood alcohol levels of 0.50 and 0.40 promille (the letter of 21 November 2009 (see above) had specified a blood alcohol level of 0.80 promille) in the first applicant. No alcohol had been found in the blood of Z.G. or M.D.
28.  On 14 July 2009 the second applicant, on behalf of the first applicant, lodged a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor against unidentified police officers on account of endangerment, torture and ill-treatment. In the complaint, the second applicant set out a factual account of the incident and alleged that after he had gone past the roadblock formed with a police car, the officers concerned had started shooting at his car “without any reason-only because maybe he had avoided a routine patrol control and had not stopped at the roadblock established by the police”. The complaint stated inter alia:
“After the car had stopped, police officers pulled [the first applicant] out of the car; then a larger group of police officers arrived and they all started hitting him all over his body with truncheons, [and] punching and kicking [him]. Then, they asked him why he had not stopped (as ordered) by the police patrol ... one of the police officers from the Alfa unit ordered [the first applicant] to leave Skopje on the threat that he would beat him up every time he saw him. After the [initial] beating, [the first applicant] was handcuffed and continued to be hit all over his body.”
29.  The first applicant submitted in support a copy of the medical certificate of 10 June 2009 (see paragraph 13 above), a copy of an X-ray taken on the same date, nine photographs, and an expert report regarding the damage to the car.
30.  On 20 October 2009, A.M., the public prosecutor who examined the first applicant’s complaint, contacted the Ministry of the Interior in order to obtain information regarding the identity of the police officers involved in the incident of 10 June 2009 and any other relevant documentary evidence. On 13 January 2010 the Ministry of the Interior forwarded to the public prosecutor a copy of a criminal complaint that it had filed against the first applicant on account of “assaulting an officer in performance of his duties” (see paragraph 36 below).
31.  Between 31 March 2010 and 21 June 2011, the first applicant addressed the public prosecutor on four occasions seeking the initiation of criminal proceedings as provided for by law. By letters of 7 December 2010 and 1 June 2011, he further informed the public prosecutor of the identities of Z.G., M.D., J.B., J.A., I.A. and M.B., which he had meanwhile discovered.
32.  By letter of 23 September 2011, A.M. notified the first applicant that:
“... there are no grounds for action [by] the public prosecutor... due to the absence of any suspicion that the police officers are guilty and that they committed a crime subject to State prosecution.”
33.  There was no instruction as to whether the first applicant could take over the prosecution.
34.  On 23 January 2013 A.M. (see paragraph 30 above) rendered a decision by which he rejected the criminal complaint lodged on behalf of the first applicant, on the basis that the suspected criminal offences were not subject to State prosecution. On the basis of the first applicant’s criminal complaint and the Ministry’s reply of 13 January 2010 (see paragraph 31 above), the public prosecutor established that after the first applicant had gone past the roadblock (by mounting the pavement on the left side of the street) and continued driving towards Z.G., both M.D. and Z.G. had fired four shots “in order to stop [the car] ... [the first applicant had then] stopped, but he had refused to get out of the car, as requested by the police officers, owing to which permissible physical force had been used by police officers I.A. and M.B. in order to neutralise and arrest him”. On the basis of the case file against the first applicant (see paragraph 36 below), the public prosecutor concluded that the police officers had acted in accordance with the law and section 27(1) of the Decree regarding the use of means of force and firearms in order “to prevent the perpetrator of a serious criminal office, namely Aleksandar Kitanovski, from absconding. For this concrete action, an indictment was filed against (the first applicant) whom this prosecution’s office considers guilty”.
35.  The public prosecutor further found, on the basis of I.A.’s and M.B.’s statements given for the purpose of the case against the first applicant, that the latter had resisted arrest and that the force used against him had been justified. Accordingly, there were no grounds for their prosecution.
36.  On 29 September 2009 the Ministry of the Interior lodged with the public prosecutor a criminal complaint accusing the first applicant of having assaulted a police officer in the performance of his duties. On 1 April 2011 the public prosecutor, lodged an indictment against the first applicant.
37.  On 3 December 2013 the Skopje Court of First Instance, in the presence of the first applicant and A.M., as the representative of the prosecution’s office, found the first applicant guilty on account of an assault of a police officer in performance of the duties of public safety and arresting an offender (при вршење на работи на јавна безбедност што се однесуваат на фаќање на сторител на кривично дело). It also sentenced him to a suspended prison term of a year and a half. The court found that he had bypassed the roadblock by mounting the pavement on the left side of the street driving towards Z.G., who, at the time, had been standing on the pavement. In order to avoid being hit by the car, Z.G. had jumped aside, as a result of which he had sustained a head injury and bruising to the torso. Z.G. did not join the prosecution and waived the right to claim compensation against the first applicant. As indicated in the judgment, Z.G. gave two statements regarding the incident. In the statement of 13 December 2011, he said that, at the relevant time, he was standing on the left side of the street, while in the statement dated 8 February 2013, he specified that the first applicant’s car had bypassed the roadblock at the right side of the street mounting the pavement where he (Z.G.) was standing. The court heard oral evidence from the first applicant, D.M., I.A., M.B., B.J. and admitted as evidence the reports and medical certificates indicated above (see paragraphs 13, 14, 26 and 27).
38.  At the trial, the first applicant argued that during the chase he had bypassed two roadblocks by mounting the pavement on the left side of the street, where no police officer had been standing. Accordingly, by circumventing the roadblocks he had neither injured nor endangered the life of any police officer. The court dismissed his defence as self-serving.
39.  The first applicant appealed against the judgment. The higher public prosecution’s office proposed that the Court of Appeal accept the appeal.
40.  At a public session held on 19 March 2014, the Skopje Court of Appeal upheld the first applicant’s appeal and remitted the case for fresh examination. It held that the trial court’s judgment was unclear and that certain facts had no basis in admitted evidence. It found that insufficient evidence had been admitted as to what criminal offence the first applicant had allegedly committed. It further referred to the contradictory statements of Z.G. regarding his position on the street when the first applicant had gone past the second roadblock. Since relevant facts had not been established with sufficient clarity, the trial court had been unable to determine whether the first applicant had intended to commit the crime with which he had been charged.
41.  The criminal proceedings are pending before the trial court.
42.  The relevant parts of these principles, which were adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held in Havana (Cuba) from 27 August to 7 September 1990, provide as follows:
“... 9.  Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms against persons except in self‑defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger and resisting their authority, or to prevent his or her escape, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life. 10.  In the circumstances provided for under principle 9, law enforcement officials shall identify themselves as such and give a clear warning of their intent to use firearms, with sufficient time for the warning to be observed, unless to do so would unduly place the law enforcement officials at risk or would create a risk of death or serious harm to other persons, or would be clearly inappropriate or pointless in the circumstances of the incident.”
43.  The relevant part of the CPT Report of 2012 reads as follows:
“10. The CPT has noted that the number of allegations of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials, as well as the severity of such allegations, has diminished since previous visits. Nonetheless, in the course of the 2010 visit, a significant number of persons interviewed by the delegation alleged that they had been ill-treated by police officers, primarily civilian crime inspectors and members of the mobile Alfa teams in Skopje. The alleged ill-treatment consisted of punches and kicks to the body and head as well as the use of batons. In most instances, the alleged ill-treatment is said to have taken place in the offices of the crime inspectors in police stations (and appeared to be related to attempts to extort confessions from the suspects) or during transfer from the place of arrest to a police station ...”